Men's Basketball Takes on Xavier Friday in Florida

Supplemental Creighton Notes
Game #5 vs. Xavier ● Friday, Nov. 27, 2009 ● 2:30 p.m. (EST)
Creighton Bluejays (2-2) vs. Xavier Musketeers (3-1)
Milk House (5,500) ● Orlando, Fla.
Radio: KXSP 590 AM, www.bigsports590.com
Television: ESPNU
Series History: Xavier leads 8-6

Creighton is 6-8 all-time against Xavier, including 0-1 at neutral sites - an 80-67 loss in Louisville, Ky., on March 8, 1963 in the National Catholic Invitational Tournament. The Bluejays have won three of the last four meetings with the Musketeers, with XU winning the last meeting between the teams, 79-66 on Dec. 5, 2007 at Xavier. CU and XU will be meeting for the seventh time this decade, with the series even at 3-3 since 2001.
P'Allen Stinnett led the Bluejays with 12 points in CU's last meeting with Xavier - Dec. 5, 2007 - adding three steals and two assists. Chad Millard is the only active Bluejay who started that meeting, finishing with six points and five rebounds. Kenny Lawson Jr. and Cavel Witter both had four points. (See CU career stats vs. Xavier on page 48 of Creighton's media guide).
The dean of MVC coaches, Dana Altman (Eastern New Mexico, 1980) is in his 16th year as head coach of the Bluejays. He owns a 311-162 (.658) mark at Creighton and a career record of 394-229 (.632) in his 21st year as an NCAA Division I head coach. Creighton's all-time winningest coach is 3-3 against Xavier in his career (all at CU) and 12-6 all-time against the Atlantic 10 (9-5 at CU).
The Jays are now 19-8 (.704) in regular-season tournaments under Dana Altman. Creighton is now 79-61 (.564) all-time at neutral sites, including 36-20 (.643) under Altman. Altman owns a 34-13 (.723) record in neutral site games that have not been part of the NCAA tournament.
The Creighton vs. Xavier match up is one of more than 90 games this season between men's and women's basketball teams from the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities across the country. The Jesuit Basketball Spotlight uses Jesuit basketball to raise awareness of Jesuit education, as each of the 28 institutions are dedicated to strong academics and teaching men and women to serve others and live a faith that does justice. The Jesuit educational mission began in Europe approximately 500 years ago. Visit www.ajcunet.edu for more information.
At 2-2, Creighton has lost two of its first four games for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign. The Jays haven't opened 2-3 since the 1996-97 season.
Senior forward Justin Carter made his first appearance of the regular-season against Michigan on Thursday, after missing the first three games with a partial MCL tear in his left knee. He led all players and established career-highs with 21 points and 10-of-15 shooting from the field, adding eight rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench - the first time in 36 games as a Bluejay that he was not in the starting line up.
Carter's 21 points off the bench on Thursday marked the first 20-point performance by a Jay off the bench since Cavel Witter scored 25 against Oral Roberts on Nov. 22, 2008.
Junior college transfer Darryl Ashford has scored 54 points in his first four games as a Bluejay. That number ties P'Allen Stinnett for the most points in a four-game span to start a career at Creighton under Dana Altman (since 1994-95). Ashford had 16 points against Michigan.
Thursday's game with Michigan marked the first time this season all 15 Bluejays on the roster were available to play.
Junior center Kenny Lawson Jr. had 10 points and team-best nine rebounds against Michigan on Thursday, the 11th time in his career he has had at least eight points and eight rebounds in a game - yet he has yet to record a double-double in his career.
Creighton shot 50 percent (33-66) from the field on Thursday, dropping to 115-5 under head coach Dana Altman when making at least 50 percent of its shots.
Freshman Ethan Wragge was 2-for-3 from three-point range against Michigan on Thursday, moving to 10-for-17 (.588) on the season. He leads the team with his 10 three-pointers.
Creighton was out-scored 23-14 in points off turnovers against Michigan on Thursday. It has been out-scored in points off turnovers in both losses this year, while owning an edge in the same category in both wins. CU is +30 in points off turnovers in wins and -11 in losses.
Creighton used 12 players and made 64 substitutions in Thursday's game with Michigan, helping pace itself for three games in four days.

Men's Basketball Takes on Xavier Friday in Florida

Players Mentioned

Darryl Ashford

Justin Carter

Kenny Lawson Jr.

Chad Millard

P'Allen Stinnett

Cavel Witter

Ethan Wragge

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